Holger
Meaning and origin
From Danish Holger. Revived in the 19th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Holger (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Holger has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2013. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | 11 |
| 2000 | 11 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 13 |
| 2003 | 12 |
| 2004 | 24 |
| 2005 | 19 |
| 2006 | 28 |
| 2007 | 33 |
| 2008 | 26 |
| 2009 | 34 |
| 2010 | 40 |
| 2011 | 67 |
| 2012 | 54 |
| 2013 | 71 |
| 2014 | 66 |
| 2015 | 66 |
| 2016 | 57 |
| 2017 | 62 |
| 2018 | 62 |
| 2019 | 65 |
| 2020 | 69 |
| 2021 | 60 |
| 2022 | 52 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,570 |
| 2000 | 2,472 |
| 2001 | 2,420 |
| 2002 | 2,329 |
| 2003 | 2,252 |
| 2004 | 2,178 |
| 2005 | 2,096 |
| 2006 | 2,039 |
| 2007 | 1,979 |
| 2008 | 1,917 |
| 2009 | 1,832 |
| 2010 | 1,773 |
| 2011 | 1,763 |
| 2012 | 1,740 |
| 2013 | 1,750 |
| 2014 | 1,756 |
| 2015 | 1,753 |
| 2016 | 1,757 |
| 2017 | 1,761 |
| 2018 | 1,788 |
| 2019 | 1,808 |
| 2020 | 1,829 |
Holger in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Holger.Hi! My name is Holger.
- Holger har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Holger has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Holger kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Holger is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Holgers mamma är lärare.Holger's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Holgers mamma is Holger's mum.
More names
Questions about Holger
How do you pronounce Holger in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Holger from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Holger mean?
From Danish Holger. Revived in the 19th century.
How popular is Holger in Sweden?
52 babies were named Holger in 2022. In 2020, 1,829 people in Sweden had Holger as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2013 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.